D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 87,709 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 78.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,636 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 87,709 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCFC. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 140,665 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 30,373 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 299,434 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $5,566,000 after buying an additional 34,458 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 43,277 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 16,110 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $446,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $356,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 1.0%

OCFC stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $16.80. 177,950 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 306,477. The firm's 50 day moving average is $16.46 and its 200 day moving average is $17.86. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $14.03 and a twelve month high of $21.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $980.85 million, a P/E ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $97.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.66 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OCFC. Raymond James dropped their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers.